I recently did a video interview on the topic of how your growth strategy changes from being a small startup versus becoming a larger company. It’s hard to compete when you’re launching a new product and you have to think asymmetrically for your growth efforts to work. I walk through each stage, step by step, and talk through some of the strategic dynamics to think about. (Thanks to the Reforge folks for setting this up!)

“Right now” is the wrong way to think about it; it’s about the trajectory

Stage 1: Map the user lifecycle:

What are all the other tools, apps, offline experiences that your users are also coming into contact with?

Find out what your product is most adjacent to

Stage 2: Sizing / understanding the trajectory of all these things that are out there (at an MAU level).

What kind of integration can you get?

Some platforms are more conducive to virality or being used as a growth channel (instagram doesn’t give you a way to link out, so it’s less good of a channel VS youtube, which does allow cross linking and linking out)

Channels have to match what people are trying to do with your product

You have to pick the right social channels for virality [11:30]

Social isn’t just digital experiences; it’s also offline experiences

So, “social channels” are any ways that your users / customers talk to each other to convey that the other person should try a product

Direct recommendation or invite: “I’ve invited you to Facebook, you should use this.”

Indirect recommendation or invite: “I’ve taken this cool Instagram photo, do you like it?”

Same applies to B2B; Dropbox is an example of indirect.

Digital is important because it’s attributable, but the broader takeaway is to create a product with a bunch of touchpoints in a user’s life; those touchpoints trigger natural recommendation or invite opportunities